Maglock ARs - likely to jam? Problem if it does?

[dminor]

Hi all,

I've been considering investing in a Maglock AR (with Kingpin upper release) or a nice shotgun (likely the IWI TS12).

I was at a recent gun shop and they told me NOT to invest in anything mag lock for personal defense. If the weapon jams, you will have difficulty unjamming it because you need to open the firearm in order to release the mag.

Any thoughts on this? Are these guns liable to jam and, if they do, is the concern the concern the dealer told me about true?

[osis32]

I wouldn't trust anything mag locked as a defender weapon. Feature less or bust. Im not fighting all the ca compliant contraptions when my life depends on it.

[hunterb]

Not ideal for home defense IMO. Fine for the range.

Do you live on acreage or rural where you feel you need a rifle for home defense? If so, and you’re set on the AR platform, I would go featureless with a grip fin.

Whatever you do get, take a class and practice!

[K001]

All of my AR's have ARMaglock & Kingpin as I can't stand the fin grips and fixed stock and I do not use them to defend my life at the range, I have other weapons at home for that
If a jam occurs I drop the bottom out of my magazine which unloads all rounds and allows you to easily clear the malfunction which takes about 5 seconds
Easy-peasy!

[FNGGlock]

Had an issue at the range with a mag locked AR. Had to pull the magazine bottom to clear, thankfully it was magpul pmags so not a huge deal. But not something you want for defense.

On a side note I thought could lock the bolt back and still drop the mag with the kingpin and armaglok setup?

[anthracite]

OP, I have had no personal experience with Maglock/Kingpins, but I will share this:

I have taken 32 hours of Carbine classes at https://internationaltactical.com/, basically two full weekends for Carbine 1 & Carbine 2. In C1, there was one person's AR that became a paperweight on day 2 because his maglock/kingpin mechanism's spring shot out during repeated drills and he had to sit out the rest of the day. In C2, there were two people who had to constantly be pulled to the side because their maglock/kingpins kept jamming and they needed tools to fix the malfunction. It was such a big deal that one of the people brought a CA Compliant rifle the next day and the other person's rifle also became a paperweight on day 2 because his maglock/kingpin broke somehow, don't know the details.

Like a few others have said, if this is a range toy then by all means, do whatever you want. But since the LGS said NO for home defense, if it is for home defense I definitely would not use it. When you literally may need every second to defend yourself and your family, do you really want to have another mechanical fail point just because a fin grip is uncomfortable? I hated my first fin grip but after research I found one I genuinely enjoy as much as a standard pistol grip, but it's CA Compliant (Fin Grip back plate with Thumb Rest attached to Magpul Miad 1.1).

All my personal friends that have maglock/kingpins only use them at the range for plinking, which makes me laugh because they have all the bells and whistles. I run my rifle hard in training and it's not cheap.

[dminor]

I appreciate everyone's input. No go on the AR, then.

I personally HATE the fin grip. I suppose I'd have to look at one of those slanted grips? Is that a thing anyone is familiar with?

[jcwatchdog]

I appreciate everyone's input. No go on the AR, then.

I personally HATE the fin grip. I suppose I'd have to look at one of those slanted grips? Is that a thing anyone is familiar with?

[Harry Ono]

I appreciate everyone's input. No go on the AR, then.

I personally HATE the fin grip. I suppose I'd have to look at one of those slanted grips? Is that a thing anyone is familiar with?

Once you try it, its not so bad. I prefer the resurgent arms.
After my FTF and FTE issues, I switched and have not looked back.
Much better than a fin. You may need to replace your stock to get
a good thumb placement.

https://resurgentarms.com/product-list/bundles/

[anthracite]

I appreciate everyone's input. No go on the AR, then.

I personally HATE the fin grip. I suppose I'd have to look at one of those slanted grips? Is that a thing anyone is familiar with?

I tried using this: https://www.sparrowdynamics.com/Feat...R-p/crg-15.htm

If you are in Orange County, you are welcome to try it out.

[tradecraft]

99% hard failures I've seen (that require a screwdriver or some sort of poking instrument) have been on maglocked rifles.

[M76]

featureless FTW

I have a rifle with the hogue maglock, it works well.
Having an actual mag release button is much better.

[george223]

I just bought the cheapest fin grip I could find, about $12. I forget what brand but Riflegear and Rifle Supply have them. I didn't like it at 1st but got used to it. I like being able drop the magazine as it was intended. My biggest gripe was that I could not reach the safety with my thumb so I put an ambidextrous safety on 1 of my AR's and it helped quite a bit.

I didn't want to spend alot to be CA compliant because, eventually, they will find another way to make it illegal, just like they did with the bullet button that I am now stuck with after spending $20 each to be compliant.

[Strykeback]

I had the one in my AR and ar pistol that gave up the bolt hold, and my buddy babied the charging handle causing a double feed. That was good times having everyone with their bullet buttons watch my buddy hold the charging handle back while I removed the front pins to pull the upper off. Think I was using 20 round lancers blocked to 10.

Swapped the setup to kingpins and bullet button 2 replacements. The carbine ran fine the pistol still gave me issues. We now think its the mags blocked to 10 are so tight ya gotta down load them to 8. Again really limiting fire power.

Id stick to pistols for home defense, and shotguns as backup. I also wouldn't have a problem with a ruger pc carbine with freedom week glock mags as a decent setup for home defense for recoil sensitive people.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[aztecw]

Had an issue at the range with a mag locked AR. Had to pull the magazine bottom to clear, thankfully it was magpul pmags so not a huge deal. But not something you want for defense.

On a side note I thought could lock the bolt back and still drop the mag with the kingpin and armaglok setup?

I have the kingpin/maglock setup, yet to test them out. But if you watch the videos, the owner mentions it's the only one where you can lock the bolt back and clear a double feed.